Milkweed
by knightshade
Summary: It's springtime offworld and something's in the air. Jack and Daniel slash, but not really ship.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Milkweed  
Author: knightshade  
Rating: PG-13, I think  
Pairing: Jack/Daniel (slash, but not ship – if that makes sense to anyone but me)  
Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or any of it's characters. See MGM, Gekko and a whole host of others who aren't me.

Summary: It's springtime off-world and there's something in the air.

Author's Notes: Back when I first signed up for 10clichefics, nottabushfan asked me what was meant by a sex pollen story. She then planted a beautiful image in my head of Daniel blowing milkweed. I was scribbling hand written notes by the time I got to work that morning. This story was inspired by her comments.

Thank you to Flatkatsi for beta reading this even though it's not her thing. I owe you one, love. Thank you also to Nutty for beta reading it as well and giving me several helpful suggestions that I tried to implement, but may have come up short with.

**Milkweed**

The cultural and technological exchange with the Ramallan village elders had gone well and they had bid SG-1 farewell at the edge of town. The gate was an easy two and a half clicks through gently rolling grasslands that seemed to stretch out endlessly. The mission had been a successful one, if excruciatingly boring. The Ramallans had some of the most pedantic rituals, traditions, and ceremonies that Jack had ever had the misfortune of hearing about -- in exhausting detail. Daniel had been enthralled, of course, but Jack had almost hoped for a Goa'uld incursion. Anything to liven up the party.

The team crested the last rise overlooking the gate only to find that they weren't alone. There were pairs and small clusters of Ramallans waist deep everywhere in the golden grass.

"Whoa," Jack said pulling up short, the team crowding around him.

"It's beautiful," Carter said, stepping up over the rise and gazing down in wonder.

All around them a filmy gossamer flax was floating into the air like snow falling skyward. The sun was shining through the filaments and reflecting iridescent colors against a backdrop of clear blue sky. In patches of tall golden grass throughout the little valley around the gate, Ramallans were blowing the flax into the air from large seedpods.

"This must be the Prin ritual that Steffan mentioned," Daniel said.

"Prin?"

"Yeah, he mentioned it when they were talking about the various seasonal holidays they celebrate."

"Oh, right," Jack said, thinking he might have been dozing during that part of the conversation. "That."

Daniel gave him an exasperated look, but thankfully let it go. Carter and Teal'c took a few steps down the path into the valley, Carter craning her head as they moved. Daniel knelt down and picked one of the pods growing next to the path. It was silvery grey, with hulls that bulged on the verge of splitting. "It looks like some kind of milkweed." He pulled open the hulls and the iridescent filaments unfolded out across his hands. Then he blew into the pod sending the seeds billowing upward.

"Daniel!" Jack batted seedlings out of his face, spitting and wiping at his nose where they stuck to him. "I thought you had allergies."

"I do. This doesn't seem to bother them. Or at least, not yet."

"Right. Well, let's assume she loves you not and be on our way." Jack was eager to get back to a nice warm shower. He didn't care to waste time blowing little fuzzy-wuzzies. "Teal'c dial us home, uh?" he called.

"Jack, I'd like to stay and watch the ritual for a while."

"Daniel, if their other rituals are any indication, this could go on for _days_. We're due back. I don't want to have to tell General Hammond that we were late because we stopped to pick the daisies."

"Um, technically, these aren't daisies."

"Technically, I don't care. Let's go."

"Jack, I could stay here and you could go through the gate without me. I'll watch the ritual a while and come back."

"You want me to leave you here alone?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"The Ramallans seem like a peaceful people."

"'Seem' being the operative word."

Daniel sighed.

"Look, if everything pans out, we'll probably be back this way a lot. You can stop by for all of their many, many, _many_ holidays. Come on."

Teal'c and Carter had already started across the clearing to the gate. Jack set off after them, listening keenly behind him. It took a moment or two but finally he heard the crunch of Daniel's footfalls following him down the path toward the gate.

---

"Alright, people. Who'd like to start?" General Hammond asked after they'd all taken seats around the briefing room table.

"Well, sir," Carter began, "the Ramallans are a very accommodating people. Their technology isn't very advanced, but they have perfected a way of processing naquadah to make it easier to mold -- making it more malleable while still keeping its essential properties intact."

"And they're willing to share this process?" Hammond asked.

"It appears so, yes."

"In exchange for us helping them shore up their villages against attack by a very large local predator. Kind of like a lion," Jack said.

Hammond raised his eyebrow.

Jack shrugged. "I showed them how a claymore works."

"Any indications of trouble or difficulties?"

"No, sir."

"Dr. Jackson, anything you'd like to add on the cultural front?"

"They're a highly complex society with occupations that are passed down from generation to generation. They seem to be an offshoot from…uh… from Roman society. They...uh..."

Jack looked up to see that Daniel was staring at him. More precisely, he was staring at the pen Jack was clicking. "Oh. Sorry." Jack set the pen down in front of him. Then he pushed it a few inches further away to remove the temptation, but he was still fidgety. Being stuck in a briefing rehashing the Mission O'Boredom wasn't helping any.

"So, as I was saying, the Ramallans place a high value on history. They have very detailed records of their past in a Great Hall which they said they'd be willing to allow us access to if we send back another team. I'd like to…uh…propose that after…"

Daniel trailed off again. This time he was staring directly at Jack. "What?"

Jack shrugged. "What, what?"

Daniel let out a frustrated sigh. "Nothing. It just looked like you wanted to say something."

"No. I'm just listening. Raptly," Jack said, making a point of shuffling the papers in front of him.

Daniel favored him with a perplexed stare and then slowly turned back to Hammond. "We should …uh…send a team back to investigate. A wealth of information was lost when Rome fell. If they are in fact descendants of ancient Romans and they've kept good historical records, then we might learn a lot about ancient cultures here on Earth."

"Of course," Hammond said. "Anything else?"

"Not really, sir," Jack interjected, itching to get this briefing over with. "Yadda, yadda, ancient cultures. Blah, blah, rituals. The usual." He pushed back his chair slightly, hoping the action would encourage Hammond to bring the meeting to an end.

"Actually," Daniel said, glaring at him. "There is one other thing. The Ramallans were apparently in the middle of a ritual celebrating spring when we were on our way back. It might be a good idea to send a team to observe the remaining portions of the ritual," he said, giving Jack a pointed, sidelong glance. "If any."

Jack rolled his eyes and sank back into his seat. "Oh come on, Daniel. We were late."

"Jack, our missions are supposed to include the study of other cultures and the exploration of the worlds we visit. For anyone else to see the Prin ritual first hand, they're going to have to wait a whole year."

"What, to see people blowing fuzzy-wuzzies into the air?!"

"Jack, you have no idea what political or cultural meaning might be attached to that act. To just dismiss it-"

"It's probably the cultural equivalent of hanging lights at Christmas time."

"But you don't know that."

"Then I guess I'll miss that question when they come out with _Trivial Pursuit - Off World Edition_." He glared at Daniel, hoping he'd get the hint that as far as he was concerned, the subject was closed. "Besides, you can go back and read about it in the carefully detailed history they keep in that Great Hall thingamajiggy."

Daniel was giving him glare for glare back, clearly ignoring the hint. "That may not be the same as actually seeing the ritual itself."

They stared at each other fiercely and Jack could feel the eyes of the rest of the team on them. He spoke very slowly, enunciating every word. "We. Were. Late. I was getting us back on schedule."

"That's not the point, Jack."

"It is, Daniel."

"Gentlemen!" Hammond said, holding up a hand and waiting for both of them to back down. "Far be it from me to encourage tardiness, but Colonel, Dr. Jackson is right. Studying alien cultures is an official part of your mission. Next time, send a message. I don't see the harm in taking a little extra time to explore a peaceful planet."

Jack pursed his lips in a humorless smirk. "Yes, sir."

The briefing room was awash in tension and Jack couldn't take the silence. He picked up the pen and started clicking it again. Mercifully, Hammond moved along. "Teal'c do you have anything to add?"

"The planet appears to be free of recent Goa'uld activity. I did not see any other specific threats aside from the predatory animals the villagers mentioned."

"Thank you. If there's nothing else, you're dismissed, people."

Jack gathered up the file folder and notebook in front of him. He looked at Daniel who was collecting his things as well. Daniel started to leave the table and then caught his eye. "What?" he asked.

Jack shrugged. "Nothing."

"You keep looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Like there's something on your mind?"

"There's nothing on my mind, Daniel," Jack said. "This is how I always look."

"Right. Okay." He all but threw up his hands and left the briefing room. Carter gave Jack a look as she followed Daniel out. It was her patented 'if you weren't my commanding officer, I'd tell you you're being an ass' look. She had it down cold. Even Teal'c gave him the eyebrow treatment. "What?" he asked following Teal'c out, but he was met with stony silence.

---

Daniel was resting against the edge of his desk studying a chalice they'd discovered on P7X-504 a few missions ago. Since they'd arrived back early this morning and the briefing had been short, he had plenty of time to catch up on his backlog of work. But now he was having trouble concentrating. He pulled off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. The translation just didn't make sense. Something was missing.

Daniel got up, tapped the spines of several books before finding the one he was after and plucking it off the shelf. He sat down again and rifled through a few chapters but the pages were swimming. He got up and paced a little, mumbling the alien words softly to himself, but it wasn't helping. Gate-lag. Maybe that was the problem. But if so, he had to try to keep as normal a schedule as possible. He made a deal with himself. If he spent the next half hour diligently working on the translation, he'd give himself a break and get some coffee. With renewed determination, Daniel forced himself to sit down and study the text.

It didn't last long.

In a few minutes he was up again, sitting on the edge of his desk, the book open in his hand. He 'd just decided he needed a more complete antiquities book and set the one he'd been holding aside when he spotted Jack standing in his doorway. Not exactly the distraction he was hoping for but he'd take it.

"Hello, Jack."

"Daniel." He wandered in, letting the door shut behind him, and started to poke and prod the various artifacts Daniel had around his office. "I just stopped by to see what you were up to."

That was probably the closest Daniel could expect Jack to come to an apology. He was willing to take it though. If he got upset enough to take his toys home each time he and Jack disagreed there'd be no point in sticking around. Besides, Hammond had sided with him this time – that usually made it easier to accept the extended olive branch.

Daniel picked up the chalice and turned it around slowly in his hands. "I finished the translation on the cup but I think there's something hidden in these symbols around the stem that I just can't figure out."

"I'm sure you'll get it." Jack picked up a Mayan plate off Daniel's desk and was studying its edges. For some reason Daniel found himself studying Jack's hands. They were large and solid -- worn, weathered, and calloused by his time in the service. Or maybe just by life in general. When Daniel looked up again he found that Jack was watching him watch his hands. Daniel quickly looked away, feeling strangely like he'd been caught in the act.

"Contrary to popular belief I don't break _everything_ I pick up. Just pencils, electronic gadgets, the occasional glass..."

Daniel had no clue what he meant at first. He'd been so intent on Jack's hands that he'd forgotten they were holding a priceless artifact. "Oh. Uh. No. I wasn't worried about that."

Jack slowly cocked his head to the side, asking but not.

Daniel felt strangely at a loss for words. He set the chalice back down on the desk, and leaned back on his hands. Then he glanced up in time to find Jack looking him up and down. Daniel blinked and couldn't quite keep his head from snapping back in surprise. Jack had been giving him a whole body appraisal. And the thing that really surprised him was that it wasn't an entirely unpleasant realization. Surprising, but not unpleasant. In fact, if he were going to be honest about it, it gave him a bit of a thrill.

The corner of Jack's mouth turned up slightly. A smile, but not. He knew he'd been caught too. He gave a nonchalant shrug, but then his eyes were back on Daniel, pinning him. Daniel had been glared at, stared at, had Jack's eyes rolled in his honor, but he'd never had Jack look so intently at him before. He knew twenty-four different languages but only one word came to mind. Smoldering. And for some reason, he couldn't look away.

Jack carefully set down the plate he'd been holding and then slowly crossed the distance between them. Daniel had the feeling of being stalked, of being prey, in a way that made his heart race. He felt like he should move, seek cover, but he couldn't. Didn't want to.

What the hell was going on?

"Jack?"

"Daniel?"

Jack stopped in front of the desk, very close. Much closer than he should have been. Daniel was still trying to work out what was happening, but his head was abuzz. There was a thick tension between them and Daniel was sure it had nothing to do with the argument they'd had.

Jack's eyes were locked on his again -- deep, dark, and intense. Daniel was back to feeling pinned. Jack raised one of those careworn hands to the side of Daniel's face, the heel against his jaw and the fingers pressing lightly against his ear and hair.

"Ja-" he started to say, but it came out a whisper before being choked off entirely. Something about Jack being this close, something about the tension and uncertainty was going right to his head. He'd never thought of Jack this way before. Hadn't ever thought of any man this way before, but somehow in this moment, he was more turned on than he could remember being in a long time. Daniel leaned forward into the few inches between them and Jack didn't give any ground. They were so close, that Daniel could hear Jack's quickened breathing.

And then they were kissing.

Jack's hand tightened against his face, sliding around to the back of his head to give his kiss more power. Then Jack's tongue was between Daniel's lips, probing with harried urgency. Daniel's body reacted immediately. He wrapped his arms around Jack's back and pulled them together, the cotton of Jack's t-shirt stretching underneath his sprawled fingers. He gripped Jack's back and arched into him as the kiss grew almost violent. Daniel was sure he could taste blood in his mouth as his lips crushed against Jack's.

He dragged his fingers down Jack's back and under his t-shirt, then raked them back up along Jack's bare sides, pulling him tighter. He could feel the weight of Jack's body pressed tightly against his, trapping him against the desk. Then Jack's hand was at his waist, undoing his belt.

Something in Daniel's mind snapped with the clinking of the buckle, bringing him back to reality. What the hell was going on? What were they doing? He pulled back from the kiss. Jack went for his neck, nipping the soft skin near his collar bone.

"Jack..."

But he continued on, leaving harsh little kisses against Daniel's neck, blazing a trail up to his ear, before taking the lobe into his mouth. Daniel had to fight against his whole body's reaction. "Jack, stop." He put his hands between them and pushed back. "Jack!"

Jack seemed to hear him this time. He stopped and took a step back. Then he shook his head as if to clear a thick fog, his eyes still clouded and confused.

"Jack?"

"Yeah, Daniel?" he asked, his voice low and throaty.

"Uh. There's something wrong here."

Jack took a few ragged breaths and in his eyes Daniel could see that he was battling his body's reaction as much as Daniel was fighting his own. Jack ran a hand back through his hair, like he was coming out of a troubled sleep. The spark of realization finally seemed to hit.

In a voice that was thoroughly unsettled, he said, "Ya think?!"

------------------  
To Be Continued


	2. Chapter 2

Colonel O'Neill wasn't an easy patient under the best of circumstances and this wasn't one of those better situations. Both he and Dr. Jackson were making Janet want to shave her head to save herself the trouble of pulling her hair out. They'd both come into the infirmary saying that something was wrong but then they'd both gone strong, silent type on her. She couldn't even get them to tell her the symptoms. Colonel O'Neill was sitting on one of the infirmary beds, his boot over his knee, picking at the laces. Daniel was sitting on the bed next to the colonel's memorizing every crease in his hands.

"Okay, let's try this again. Feeling 'odd' isn't very helpful diagnostically."

"We really aren't ourselves," Daniel said without looking up.

"How? Is it a discomfort?"

"Oh, yeah," the colonel said, drawing it out.

"Okay, where? How?" she asked, but he clammed up again.

Janet sighed. "Look, I realize this must be a difficult conversation, but I have dealt with issues involving the male reproductive system. I promise to treat you both with the utmost respect, but if you'd prefer to talk to a male doctor, I can have Dr. Myer –"

"No!" Colonel O'Neill said quickly, a note of panic reverberating through the word.

Daniel nodded in agreement and now Janet was completely stumped. "Okay then, you're going to have to tell me what's going on. In detail."

"Can't you just … draw blood or something?" the colonel asked, shocking her. If Jack O'Neill was begging for tests, there was something really wrong.

"Well, I could, but it might not be very helpful if I don't know what I'm looking for. Something brought you both in here…"

They each shot looks at the other and then Janet noticed the colonel's eyes dart toward something behind her. The curtain was pulled around the two beds, but she could hear someone moving through the infirmary and Jack's eyes followed the sound. Maybe they just needed more privacy. "Let's talk about this in my office, shall we?"

They shared another glance and the colonel reluctantly nodded.

Janet shepherded them out of the infirmary and closed the door behind them. "Okay, spill it. What's going on?"

"See, there was this … thing … that happened. And uh…it's just not like us," Daniel said, looking for all the world like he was being helpful. Janet crossed her arms and waited. They were going to have to give her more that that.

Daniel sighed. "We kissed," he said, not looking up.

Well that was certainly a 'symptom' Janet hadn't heard before.

"Rather … uh …passionately."

The colonel bolted upright. "Daniel!"

"Well, its true, Jack."

Colonel O'Neill turned to her, his movements pure agitation. "And see the thing is … we're not," he paused, throwing Daniel a glare. "Or at least _I'm_ not …"

"I'm not either, Jack!"

"Okay. I think I have an understanding of what's going on now," Janet said, quickly interrupting them before things got any more tense. "You were right to come in."

Daniel was the recipient of another brutal O'Neill glare. "I didn't have much choice."

"Well what did you want to do about it, Jack?" Daniel asked, his voice closer to an edge than Janet was used to hearing from him.

"Oh, I don't know, forget all about it and _never speak of it again!_ I kind of liked that option, personally."

"I'm sorry, Jack, but when one morning after living a perfectly happy heterosexual existence, I suddenly have this overwhelming desire for a man I don't even consider attractive it's not normal. And I want to know _why_."

"Hey." Colonel O'Neill puffed out his chest. "Maybe you should check his glasses too, Doc. Obviously he's not seeing clearly."

Daniel just shook his head and sighed. "Jack…"

"I'll have you know, I'm quite a catch."

"Fine, you're a hot piece of beefcake. Can we move on to the part where Janet figures out what's wrong and cures us?"

Colonel O'Neill crossed his arms and then let out his own sigh. "Doc?"

Janet had never heard of any of her patients suddenly developing attractions to someone of a gender they weren't normally attracted to. That was a new one in her book. "Your blood work and scans were normal when you came back from off-world. When did you first start to notice this … attraction?"

"Oh, about twenty minutes ago … when we were locking lips," Colonel O'Neill sputtered.

"Well, actually, Jack, you were staring at me during the briefing and then you came to my office for no real reason."

"Oh come on, Daniel! I wasn't staring. And I came to apologize!"

"You came to..._apologize_?" Daniel cocked his head and raised an eyebrow.

"Okay. I came to…well, I…" Colonel O'Neill floundered and stopped. He stared at Daniel and then at Janet. "A couple of hours. I guess," he spat.

Daniel nodded. "I'd say that's about right for me too. I was really restless after the briefing this morning."

"Okay. I'll draw blood and compare it to the results from earlier. Was there anything out of the ordinary you remember being exposed to while off-world?"

They both seemed to consider that and then Daniel sighed and dropped his head into his hands. "It had to be the milkweed." He glanced up at her. "There was some ritual the Ramallans had for springtime. It involved blowing the filaments and seeds from a plant into the air. Actually, come to think of it, they were a little vague on the details about that particular ritual."

Jack snorted. "They weren't vague on anything."

"How would you know, Jack? You weren't even paying attention."

"Gentlemen," Janet interrupted again. "Were Major Carter and Teal'c exposed?"

"They had to be. It was everywhere. But I held one of the pods and Jack--"

"Got fuzzies blown in my face."

Janet nodded. "Okay. Do we know if Sam or Teal'c are suffering any symptoms?"

Colonel O'Neill and Daniel both raised eyebrows at each other.

"I'll check on them too. But if this is part of some ritual, the Ramallans might be able to shed some light on it. I'll talk to General Hammond about sending another SG team back to talk with them.

"Oh, I don't think so!" Jack said, just a bit of panic in his voice.

Janet wanted to roll her eyes, but she didn't. She promised she'd treat them with respect, and she would. "I'm sure they'll handle the situation with the utmost professionalism."

Both Colonel O'Neill and Daniel gave her incredulous looks.

"Okay, okay. I'll ask General Hammond about authorizing me to lead a medical team to investigate. Is that better?"

Colonel O'Neill shrugged.

"Okay. I'll get Sgt. Miller to draw blood." She led the way back to the beds they'd been sitting on in the infirmary. "Wait here and..." She stopped. "It is alright to leave you two alone for a few minutes, isn't it?"

The colonel glared at Daniel. "You could give me my gun and then we'd be fine."

"Hey, I wasn't the one who made the first-"

"Ahp," the colonel squawked, cutting him off quickly. "Let's not go there, shall we?"

"I'm just saying..."

"Why is it you never have a P-90 when you really need it?" the colonel asked the ceiling.

"Sorry, sir, no guns in the infirmary unless absolutely necessary."

"Oh, this is necessary."

"We'll be fine," Daniel said, warily sitting down on the foot of his bed as far from Jack as he could get.

"How about a zat? Could I have a zat, at least? I promise I'll only shoot him once."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks, Jack."

Janet sighed. "I'll be right back."

---

Jack was resting in his quarters, trying to avoid contact with any other human being. He wanted to leave, to go back to his house, have some beer and pizza, and forget about all of this. But with medical issues of unknown origin he wasn't going to get off this level, much less off the base. He was lucky the Doc let him out of the infirmary.

And of course, the more he wanted to be alone, the more likely it was that he wasn't going to get his wish. On cue there was a knock on the door.

"No one's home," he sing-songed. "Go away."

The door cracked open and Daniel stuck his head in. "Hey, Jack, can I come in?"

Yep, the more he wanted to be left alone …

Jack raised his eyes since lifting his whole head felt like too much work. "Do you really think that's wise?"

Daniel slipped in and let the door close behind him. "Uh, well. I'm not feeling any special fondness for show tunes," he said.

"Me neither."

"Right. Well, then, we're probably fine."

"Right."

"Okay."

"So what do you want?" Jack asked, moving his chair back slightly.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

That froze Jack cold. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but that wasn't it. "For what?"

"Blowing those stupid milkweeds."

Jack ran a hand through his hair. "We don't even know for sure that's what did it."

"Well, I'm having a hard time thinking of anything else that makes sense."

Jack shrugged. "Magnets?"

"Magnets?" Daniel tipped his head to the side. "Ah, well, not unless we each had magnets of opposite polarities in our mouths."

"I never leave home without them."

Daniel just stared at him and then slowly shook his head. "Be that as it may, I'm guessing the plants might be the better explanation. And looking back, it was pretty stupid to open up an alien plant I know nothing about and start playing with its seeds."

Jack shrugged. Daniel had a point.

"So anyway..."

Jack nodded and picked at a fascinating bit of callous on his palm. "Yeah, me too."

"You too what?"

Jack glared at him for a minute, irritated that Daniel was going to make him say it. "I'm sorry too," he said finally, crossing his arms and looking away.

"For what?" Daniel sounded genuinely confused.

"For insisting we leave. Maybe if we'd stuck around we'd know what the hell was going on. Then we could have gone with that 'forget it ever happened and never speak of it again' option."

"Possibly. But we don't know that for sure either."

"No, we don't."

Daniel nodded. Then he turned awkwardly toward the door, gesturing with his hand. "Well, I think I'll leave now before any more urges to kiss anyone come on." He smiled weakly.

"Good idea," Jack said, watching as he slipped out the door.

God he wished he could go home now.

---

Daniel followed Jack into Hammond's office to find that Dr. Fraiser and the general were already waiting.

"Come in, gentlemen," Hammond said. "Have a seat."

Sprawling out in the far chair, Jack stared down at his hands. Daniel took the other chair in front of Hammond's desk, feeling very uncomfortable sitting across from the general at the moment.

"Doctor, what can you tell us?" Hammond asked.

"Well, you were right about it being the plant, Daniel. The Ramallans said it's a very powerful aphrodisiac, and it has some unique properties. Each individual plant has a slightly different protein in its pollen to prevent self-fertilization. Those proteins end up in the filaments attached to its seeds. In humans, they interact with normal pheromones, changing them slightly. People who have direct physical contact with the seeds from the same plant will experience a strong attraction to each other."

"That explains why Sam and Teal'c weren't affected. They didn't have any direct contact with the plants," Daniel surmised.

"Exactly. The Ramallans allow the plant's use once a year. Their Prin ritual. Willing participants go out in the fields together for the day. After that, the fields are razed due to the potential for misuse." Dr. Fraiser paused and looked at them. "Luckily for you two, the effect is very short lived. It wears off a few hours after the onset of symptoms and leaves the body within 24 hours. You should be good to go."

"Thank you, Doctor. Any questions?" Hammond asked.

Neither man said anything. Daniel risked a look at Jack. He was sitting with his head down, unease written into his whole posture.

"Okay then. You're dismissed, Doctor."

Janet left the room and Daniel wished he could go with her.

Hammond set aside the report and leaned back in his chair. "Just so you both know, the report on this incident will be kept strictly confidential."

"Thank you, sir," Jack mumbled, still not looking up.

"Is there anything else you want to add?"

"Oh, no," Jack muttered under his breath. "Nothing else I _want _to add."

"Okay, let me rephrase, Colonel. Anything else I shouldinclude."

"I think the phrase I'm looking for here is 'don't ask, don't tell', sir."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "It was just a kiss. Well. Mostly."

"Daniel!"

Hammond raised his brow. "Mostly?"

"Again, 'don't ask, don't tell.' It's such a simple concept, really. Don't ask questions. Don't volunteer answers. Everyone's happier that way and life goes on all sunshine and flowers." Daniel couldn't look at Jack. His sarcasm was biting.

"You're right, Colonel. I don't need any details. But I do need to ask you both one question." He gave each of them a stern look. "Is this going to be a problem?"

"No, sir," Daniel answered.

For a disquieting moment he thought Jack wasn't going to answer. Then finally Jack shook his head slightly. "No, General."

"Good. I'd hate to have to split up SG-1 over something like this." He steeped his hands on the desk in front of him and finally said, "Very well, then, gentlemen. You're dismissed."

Relief eased away some of the strain and worry leaving Daniel feeling lighter. He hurried to the door with as much dignity as he could muster – Jack right on his heels. Escaping Hammond's office made him feel better still, but there was an awkward silence as he and Jack strode down the hallway.

"Daniel?" Jack asked as they approached the corridor where Daniel planned to turn off to go to his office.

"Yeah, Jack?" he asked warily, but Jack seemed to be sounding more himself. The edge to his voice had abated somewhat.

"Next time you blow _fuzzies _in my face," he said, looking Daniel in the eye. "Remind me to shoot you."

Daniel sighed. That was probably the closest he could expect Jack to come to saying that they were okay. He was willing to take it though. "Don't worry, Jack. Next time I think I'll hand you the gun myself."

-----------------

-knightshade

May 20, 2007


End file.
